Maya Kowalski Says Atty Made Her 'Uncomfortable'

By Carolina Bolado

The attorney who persuaded a jury to award $261 million to Netflix documentary subject Maya Kowalski also provided unsolicited dating and sex advice to his 18-year-old client and arranged an advance funding loan for the Kowalski family in violation of Florida Bar rules, according to a statement Kowalski filed.

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Live Nation CEO Says He Can't Recall 'Market Power' Remark

By Pete Brush

Live Nation's longtime CEO sparred Thursday with states that say the $36 billion entertainment giant engages in monopolization, telling a Manhattan federal jury the business is a "better mousetrap" than rivals and saying he couldn't recall telling investors the company has "incredible market power."  

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11th Circ. Says Black Cop's Race Bias Suit Thin On Evidence

By Grace Elletson

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday backed the dismissal of a Black ex-cop's suit claiming Miami-Dade County disciplined and fired him for calling out systemic race discrimination in its police department, shutting down a case the appeals court revived in 2020.

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Depo Stay Kept As Trump Media Settles Merger Docs Dispute

By David Minsky

A Florida state judge on Thursday kept a roughly one-month pause on the deposition of certain individuals in Trump Media's lawsuit alleging an investor botched the platform's initial public offering, allowing an arbitrator to resolve a dispute over who controls documents related to the merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

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11th Circ. Partially Reopens Aetna Twin Birth Coverage Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday undid Aetna's escape from a worker's coverage dispute over an extended hospital stay for her newborn twins, agreeing with the lower court that allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law but holding that an amended complaint should have been allowed.

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Ex-Workers Ask 11th Circ. To Overturn ERISA Exhaustion Rule

By Kellie Mejdrich

Former workers for a seafood company urged the full Eleventh Circuit to overturn precedent that led a three-judge panel to uphold dismissal of their suit alleging mismanagement of an employee stock ownership plan, arguing the court's strictest-in-the-nation standard on exhausting administrative remedies didn't align with federal benefits law.

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Insurance Execs Ask 11th Circ. To Review Coverage Suit Toss

By Kelcey Caulder

Insurance executives accused of sabotaging their former company as they prepared to start a rival firm will ask the Eleventh Circuit to review a lower court ruling that Berkley Assurance Co. did not have to pay for their defense in now-dismissed litigation filed by their ex-employer.

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Fla. Court Won't Pause Restoration Of Medicaid Benefits

By David Steele

A Florida federal court has declined to pause an injunction ordering the state to restore family Medicaid to more than a million low-income enrollees, but extended deadlines to reinstate benefits and to send adequate termination notices. 

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Amazon Unlawfully Taxes Exempt Baby Items In Fla., Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

Two Florida shoppers filed a proposed class action Thursday in Washington federal court accusing Amazon.com Inc. of overcharging customers by collecting sales tax on items that are supposed to be tax-free under Florida law, such as cribs, strollers, diapers and other products for toddlers and babies.

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Ex-Bank CEO Cops To $13.6M Fraud, Evading Sanctions

By Carolina Bolado

The former CEO of the Puerto Rico-based Nodus International Bank pled guilty Thursday to running a scheme that stole more than $13.6 million from the now-collapsed bank and evading sanctions on Venezuela.

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Organizers Of 7-Marathon Event Accuse Rival Of Defamation

By Ganesh Setty

The organizers of an event to run seven marathons across all seven continents in seven days accused two California residents who have organized a similar event of defamation in Florida federal court, alleging they tried to divert participants away via "harassment and intimidation."

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Palantir Rolls Out AI-Mortgage Platform In Startup Partnership

By Nate Beck

Artificial intelligence company Palantir Technologies announced a partnership with startup Moder on Thursday to build AI-based mortgage operations, starting with Freedom Mortgage, a mortgage originator and servicer, as a pilot customer.

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Duke Energy Settlement Raises Key Antitrust Questions

The recent federal court settlement in Duke Energy v. NTE Carolinas II comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's failure to address a Fourth Circuit decision in the matter, calling into question the core purpose and effect of antitrust laws, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

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Series

Coaching Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Coaching youth soccer for my 7-year-old son's team has sharpened how I communicate with clients, prepare witnesses, work within teams and think about leadership, making me a more thoughtful and effective lawyer in many ways, says Joshua Holt at Smith Currie.

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HSF Kramer Hires Axinn Antitrust Lawyer In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP has hired a former Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP partner, who represented Google in an antitrust investigation into its advertising technology, and who has represented other global companies in competition and related matters.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen an ex-professional footballer revive a dispute with Charles Russell Speechlys, Virgin Media face a group data protection claim after hundreds of thousands of customers' personal details were exposed online for months, and Mishcon de Reya sued by a real estate private equity firm founded by a former Morgan Stanley executive.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Major shareholder groups sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, claiming the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act. In the meantime, some attorneys think the sanctions that judges are issuing to lawyers over AI-generated errors won't be enough to stop the problem. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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DOJ Rebuked Over Lack Of Candor For 'Imperious Client'

By Jack Karp

A Florida federal judge has rebuked government attorneys for failing to be up-front about legal authority that contradicts their position in a habeas case, warning them not to let their "imperious client" get between them and their ethical obligations.

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Beasley Allen Can't Halt DQ Ruling In J&J Talc Litigation

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state appeals court has refused to pause its decision disqualifying the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, according to a court order.

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Where Calif. State Courts Landed On Generative AI Use Rules

By Emily Sawicki

The majority of California's 58 superior courts — together making up the country's largest trial court system — have decided to greenlight the use of generative artificial intelligence in their work this year, a Law360 investigation found.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Baron & Budd PC, Walden Macht Haran & Williams LLP and Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit revived a major hospital chain's False Claims Act suit accusing large pharmaceutical companies of massive overcharges in a prominent drug discount program.

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Top SEC Enforcer Signals Continuity After Ryan Departure

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's acting enforcement chief said Friday that the agency will continue to "focus on quality over quantity" when it comes to the cases it brings, projecting continuity with his predecessor's approach after her abrupt departure from the agency earlier this week.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: $3M Jury Verdict, GEO Appeal Denial

By Orlando Lorenzo

A Philadelphia federal judge rejected bids to disturb a $3 million jury award and impose sanctions on plaintiff's counsel arising from proceedings he described as "near-daily Festivus celebrations, where everyone got to air their grievances 'for the sake of the record'" and a Detroit man saw his murder conviction vacated after 27 years due to the case's reliance on a coerced confession and a lack of physical evidence, among other access to justice stories you may have missed.

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Bondi Keeps Ousted Wisconsin US Atty With New Title

By Lauren Berg

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi swapped Brad D. Schimel's title from interim U.S. attorney to first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in order to keep him in charge of the office after his tenure expired earlier this week.

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